• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, May 23, 2016

Facebook will now allow publishers to stream live video feeds. At the moment, however, the social giant is not allowing these streams to be saved for later viewing.

To date, video streams have been limited to 90 minutes in length.

Although financially fit, Facebook needs people to share more personal posts, and it is betting on live video and continued app diversification to do so.

Facebook users are posting ample content, but mostly news stories and viral videos rather than personal fare. The latter is critical to the social giant’s health because it engenders far higher engagement levels and strengthens bonds among users. 

That is why a recent report, which found that original sharing of personal stories dropped 21% last year, is so troubling for Facebook.

Overall, recent findings from GlobalWebIndex found that users are sharing less content than ever.

In response, Facebook has been eager to re-position itself as a live-video platform.

Indeed, it only began testing live video-streaming late last year, but is now planning to prominently place a live video tab right in its Messenger app.

The company also recently rolled out a number of new video-based features, including Video for Groups and Events, with which users can more easily share live video with particular friends and family.